6 June 2012

Sponges, Sponges, and More Sponges.

I usually have a love-hate relationship with sponges, because some of them can be mind boggling-ly useless. But recently, I've been all over them. The three that I've been experimenting with have become must haves, beauty loves and absolutely incredible finds, so I thought I had to share my spon-ddiction with you today! See what I did there?

1. Konjac Sponge with Nourishing Mineral Rich French Green Clay

Due to my absence from the blogging world, I'm not quite sure if this is an 'in' thing that I obviously came to stumble on, or something not quite yet 'in' that I happened to stumble on anyway, but needless to stay, I stumbled upon it quite recently.

Konjac sponges are apparently made from vegetable fibres used by the Japanese for over 1,500 years. As a Japanese person, my first reaction was: "the kon-what?" On reflection, I can only assume this is the same as what we call, "konnyaku". But I can live with "konjac". It's 100% colouring free, naturally sustainable and naturally pH balanced. It's also ideal for sensitive skins.

Basically what you do is you dampen it, it expands, and without a drop of cleanser, you scrub away at your face. "Scrub" is the wrong word though, as it feels more like brushing - it feels so invigorating, cleansing, and mildly exfoliating. In fact, it feels so good that I've had to stop myself. And after rinsing your face, your face feels super polished, refreshed and clean. Although I've only used this twice, I noticed that my oil production has significantly dropped in the past 2 days, and that my skin is always squeaky clean. There are several variations as well as the original that you can choose from to work with your skin-type. It also claims to be perfect for removing make-up, but I'd rather keep the sponge nice and clean, and for a gentle morning cleanse. It also works perfectly for my attempt to strip back the chemicals and unnecessary beauty products in my skincare routine :)

2. Cosmopolitan Blend Perfection Sponge

It's been raved about before, but it just isn't enough. This sponge is a godsend for us lot who like a lightweight feel to our foundations. Once you dampen it, it expands to about 1.5x the size, and becomes a jelly-like, wobbly sponge that still maintains the stiff core that probably distinguishes it from the BeautyBlender. I love applying my NARS Sheer Glow with this, as it thins it out whilst maintaining the majority of the coverage the foundation offers. It also makes application quite fun.. it feels like babies' cheeks, and slightly resembles the EDF Energy blob if you wiggle it in a certain way.. (you can tell my exams are over).

3. The Body Shop Soft Facial Sponge

Undoubtedly bound to feature in my May Favourites (that will come in the near future.. hopefully), I use this to remove my gel cleanser, and it helps lightly exfoliate, completely remove make up and reduces the wet faff of rinsing off gel cleansers (they really like to cling!). A massive anti-flannelist due to them being long, wet, and drippy, I converted to this sponge in hopes of similar effects. As an amateur, whether the effects are as good/the same is beyond me, but I can definitely tell that the cleanser has had better effects since using this sponge.

The best news? These are all under a tenner each. The Konjac sponge comes in the most pricey at £6.50 and can be purchased from Liberty department store in London (3rd floor, bath section), Love-MakeUp or you can look up stockists on their website here. The Cosmopolitan sponge is available in Superdrugs for £4.95, or you can get an unbranded but similar version on Love-MakeUp for £3.99 + P&P. The Body Shop sponge is available in, well, The Body Shop for £3.

Cheap as chips, some are even healthy, and definitely all effective :)

14 comments:

Great post Yu :) I've never really been a fan of sponges but I think that's because I never knew how many variations there were! I'm definitely interested in the Konjac sponge esp as it's helped with oiliness! x

Thanks Corrie! Yea I usually think of those beigey pink ones that come in compacts - the moist ones are nice but the puff ones are horrid! I'd definitely recommend the Konjac sponge, I can't say it'd work the same for you esp cuz I've only used it a few times but it's still an effective and unique product that can have a place in anyone's collection :)

Ooh, I hope that konnyaku sponge catches on in the US! It sounds so nice to use and obviously veggie-friendly.Well, I love eating konnyaku, lol, even though I usually only got it at the 7-11. Great post :D

I've only recently begun to appreciate the usage of organic cloths but I'm intrigued by the Konjac sponges and think it's worth a go. You've also given me the idea to try using TBS sponge with my cleanser. Thanks for such an interesting post. :)

Ahh, I was using the Konjac Sponge at the beginning of this uni year, and really enjoyed it.. I have no idea why I never rebought it! Think I'm going to have to pick up another one. I often use those yellow sponges to remove facemask/ more resilient cleaners, but the Body Shop ones sounds much nicer. Once again my purse is going to be empty because of you! Love this post. Glad you got hold of the Cosmo sponge in the end! I love the sound of them, but sheering out is definitely not good for me!

How long do u usually keep a sponge before you toss it? I used to use sponges all the time in high school but now they just seem a bit unsanitary :S I sometimes steal mac ones though they're pretty good quality!

I think I usually judge on their effectiveness, if they've lost their elasticity or if they just look a bit gross.. hahaha. Yeah they probably aren't great if your skin is prone to breaking out but so far I seem to be okay! :D I've never tried MAC ones but good quality sponges, even the flat ones, I find applies foundation quite well!

I only use one sponge. Well, a facial buffer, from The Body Shop. I used it with my skincare routine and love it! I much prefer brushes for make up, although I did used to use the sponges which came with some face products! xo